Anybody else thinking this about the Sanctuary? (wondering if SUN princess will be this way)

[Wishing on a star]

We are so looking forward to seeing the new Sun Princess. 

Especially if they do not have an adult only retreat open area, we would run to book the Sanctuary!  

We have especially enjoyed the Sanctuary on Regal.  Not only is it quiet and exclusive, but it is a lovely area!

In comparison, to me, the Sanctuary on the Discovery, for example, is almost institutional looking.  Just square box frames for the loungers... No different areas, like the lovely central seating area on the Regal,  where we would enjoy coffee/breakfast or lunch.   (as this would not generate revenue, I am sure Princess writes that off as wasted space)

Good Gracious I hope that the design and feel of the Sanctuary on the new ship is more like the Regal!

It will be interesting how it all is layed out, as there will be a pool. 

Would anybody here also admit to my sentiment?

I don't believe any good photos or info is available on the new Sun Sanctuary?

[cruisedoctor]

Here is what the sanctuary will look like on the Sun.

The Sanctuar
Of course, there’s The Sanctuary, our retreat just for adults. If you’re one of our Signature guests, you’ll have an exclusive area of The Sanctuary to enjoy: the Signature Sun Deck.

 

Signature Sun Deck

Signature Sun Deck is a private area of The Sanctuary reserved for Signature Collection Suite guests. (The pool is shared)

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

What is a "Signature Guest"? Never seen that phrase before.

[kywildcatfanone]

 Not having an adults only retreat area will keep me off these newer carnival style ships 

[skynight]

1 hour ago, Snaxmuppet said:

What is a "Signature Guest"? Never seen that phrase before.

Full Suites

[d9704011]

3 hours ago, cruisedoctor said:

The pool is shared

By 'shared', do you mean shared between Signature Guests (those with exclusive access to the Signature Sun Deck) and those with access to the Sanctuary?

[hllwdcruiser]

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

 Not having an adults only retreat area will keep me off these newer carnival style ships 

We have remained loyal to Princess because the passenger demographics suits us. We started sailing on them when we were still in our late forties, early fifties, but were happy to get away for a respite from the late teens/early twenties vibe (RCCL) since we still had those ages living with us at home. 
Now that we are grandparents, we value the peace and serenity of Princess even more. We almost exclusively use the adult only pools. We have never booked the Sanctuary because we are happy enough with our balcony for privacy.
Now it appears that only the "lucky" few will be able to enjoy an adults only pool. Even if we wanted to book the Sanctuary, we probably wouldn't be fast enough to get onboard to secure a place.
We are almost at that sweet place in our ages where we can start to look at longer cruises to more exotic locales. I hope Princess knows what it is doing because this new direction doesn't appeal to us at all.

Edited December 6, 2023 by hllwdcruiser

[Fortunate 2 travel]

4 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

What is a "Signature Guest"? Never seen that phrase before.

Signature suites.  Also includes a signature lounge and restaurant.  They are explained on the website.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

3 hours ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

Signature suites.  Also includes a signature lounge and restaurant.  They are explained on the website.

Thanks. The reason I didn't know is that it is Sun and Star only and we haven't looked at them yet. 

[BeeeJay]

5 hours ago, hllwdcruiser said:

We have remained loyal to Princess because the passenger demographics suits us. We started sailing on them when we were still in our late forties, early fifties, but were happy to get away for a respite from the late teens/early twenties vibe (RCCL) since we still had those ages living with us at home. 
Now that we are grandparents, we value the peace and serenity of Princess even more. We almost exclusively use the adult only pools. We have never booked the Sanctuary because we are happy enough with our balcony for privacy.
Now it appears that only the "lucky" few will be able to enjoy an adults only pool. Even if we wanted to book the Sanctuary, we probably wouldn't be fast enough to get onboard to secure a place.
We are almost at that sweet place in our ages where we can start to look at longer cruises to more exotic locales. I hope Princess knows what it is doing because this new direction doesn't appeal to us at all.

100% agree.  Lack of Guaranteed access to an adults only pool is a deal breaker.  

[Yehootu]

5 hours ago, hllwdcruiser said:

We are almost at that sweet place in our ages where we can start to look at longer cruises to more exotic locales. I hope Princess knows what it is doing because this new direction doesn't appeal to us at all.

We are also at this stage and book long cruise that have very few kids. Most of the ones onboard are young and well behaved. The teens are in school. Did the rowdy cruises when our kids were young and we made sure they were among the considerate well  mannered ones.

[Wishing on a star]

Snax...  When you book, if you choose to look for a 'suite'..  the suite options will show up, and the description for these will all begin with  'Signature'.  Benefits also include dining in the 'Signature Restaurant.  And the Signature lounge on deck 16.

Mini-suites have the option of booking one the Reserve mini-suites that will have 'Reserve' benefits.  There is also a separate Reserve restaurant, for those who do not prefer the main dining room.

 

Of course, the SUN will be quite a bit different than the other Princess ships.

[Mark JF]

My wife and I are traveling on the Sun Princess between Nov 30-Dec 9 2025 and we are really looking forward to the new ship especially, the newest iteration of the Sanctuary. We are veteran cruisers with Princess and have 12 cruises between us with the line.

One of the biggest complaints that I had with the older ships was the mad dash at boarding to get a Cabana in the Sanctuary. Often, there was a long line of testy passengers who were trying to get space in the Sanctuary. Many did not realize that the Sanctuary was additional charge with the cabanas running around $250 for a whole. Others booked space but never showed up. Usually, the Sanctuary manager would get my choice of cabanas after the first day’s rush failed to show but it was a major source of irritation for both me and my wife and I pointed this out on my post cruise surveys.

Apparently, they were listening to my concerns and similar concerns raised by other guests. The new Sun Princess will have guaranteed space for Signature Suite guests like me. I have always had a suite on my previous cruises and it always bothered me that wasn’t any consideration in the Sanctuary for suite guests. I am thrilled that this issue has been fixed. Additionally, I like the idea that Sanctuary guests no longer have to share the adult pool with everyone else. It is now integrated into the Sanctuary keeping away kids, teens and the more rowdy, more inebriated guests. I really believe that improvements to the suites themselves as well as the Sanctuary will give Princess a more premium experience and will bring it more in line with competitors offerings like The Haven on Norwegian Cruise Line. Also, Signature Suite guests I.E Sky Suite and Owner’s Suite guests will also have a private Signature dining room.

All of the pictures that I have seen of the Sun Princess look fantastic. The spaces are both elegant and contemporary. Photos of both the Owners Suite(the room that we booked) as well as the Sky Suites are huge improvements over the Suites on older Princess ships like the Caribbean Princess or the Royal class of ships.

It should be a memorable cruise for both of us.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

7 hours ago, Mark JF said:

My wife and I are traveling on the Sun Princess between Nov 30-Dec 9 2025 and we are really looking forward to the new ship especially, the newest iteration of the Sanctuary. We are veteran cruisers with Princess and have 12 cruises between us with the line.

One of the biggest complaints that I had with the older ships was the mad dash at boarding to get a Cabana in the Sanctuary. Often, there was a long line of testy passengers who were trying to get space in the Sanctuary. Many did not realize that the Sanctuary was additional charge with the cabanas running around $250 for a whole. Others booked space but never showed up. Usually, the Sanctuary manager would get my choice of cabanas after the first day’s rush failed to show but it was a major source of irritation for both me and my wife and I pointed this out on my post cruise surveys.

Apparently, they were listening to my concerns and similar concerns raised by other guests. The new Sun Princess will have guaranteed space for Signature Suite guests like me. I have always had a suite on my previous cruises and it always bothered me that wasn’t any consideration in the Sanctuary for suite guests. I am thrilled that this issue has been fixed. Additionally, I like the idea that Sanctuary guests no longer have to share the adult pool with everyone else. It is now integrated into the Sanctuary keeping away kids, teens and the more rowdy, more inebriated guests. I really believe that improvements to the suites themselves as well as the Sanctuary will give Princess a more premium experience and will bring it more in line with competitors offerings like The Haven on Norwegian Cruise Line. Also, Signature Suite guests I.E Sky Suite and Owner’s Suite guests will also have a private Signature dining room.

All of the pictures that I have seen of the Sun Princess look fantastic. The spaces are both elegant and contemporary. Photos of both the Owners Suite(the room that we booked) as well as the Sky Suites are huge improvements over the Suites on older Princess ships like the Caribbean Princess or the Royal class of ships.

It should be a memorable cruise for both of us.

We too are booked in a suite on the Sun Princess - this summer in the Med.  From the videos posted it appears that there is limited seating in the Signature portion of the Sanctuary.  So, will we be able to actually have loungers assigned to us?  For the main portion of the Sanctuary the loungers are not the padded sort that are on other Princess Ships and they are way to close together.  The atmosphere is gone - it looks like a regular sun deck around a pool.  We have always booked the Sanctuary for the entire cruise in the past.  If we weren’t in a suite, I very much doubt we would pay $99 per person for the Sanctuary on the Sun.  I had (wrongly) expected the Sanctuary on the Sun was going to be spectacular.  Guess we will find out this summer.  Perhaps it will be better than I am expecting.